End of Life Care

Helping Hands Clinic assisted Lucy for six years. She was homeless in the beginning. Her health issues included hypertension, diabetes, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), and depression.

During those years she returned to work and rented an apartment. Then, after suffering a job related injury, she found herself homeless again.

When, years later, she was homeless and hospitalized, she received several prescriptions. One of them was for an endoscopy, although an explanation for it and a referral form were missing. Instead, she was told that a lump in her throat was preventing her ability to eat, which explained her eighty pound body weight.

HHC examined her and provided medications, including Boost® to augment her nutrition, and a nebulizer machine to help her breath. Physicians from HHC’s clinic referred her to the We Care program for an ear, nose, and throat consultation.

Hospice assistance provided palliative care for the remaining months of Lucy’s life. She lived in a homeless encampment called Dignity Village, in Gainesville, Florida, where a portable generator powered her nebulizer machine. There, she gave herself treatments. Volunteers from HHC continued providing assistance through their clinic, and by transporting medical supplies to her.

Lucy died in a local hospital from complications related to her condition.

Mission

Helping Hands Clinic seeks to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the homeless and nearly homeless by: delivering comprehensive health care, sensitizing providers to the special needs of the homeless and engaging the community in meaningful contribution.